The present invention relates to a retractable divot tool for golfers used to manually repair ball marks on greens.
Varying designs of divot repair tools are well known in the art. These tools are used to repair the divot remaining on a golfing green following the impact of a golf ball. To prevent damage to the green and to keep a smooth surface, the golfer must repair such mark by lifting the impacted area to fill the cavity. The general design of the golf tool has a pair of tines which are stuck into ground surrounding the divot and manipulated to bring the surrounding turf into the cavity.
However, with the use of such tools, the tines become dirty or muddy after sticking them into the ground. If a golfer carries such devices in his pocket, his pockets will become dirty. These devices are also of such a design that the tines could poke the golfer either when in the pocket or when the golfer reaches into his pocket.
Other designs have divot repair tools retractable into a cover assembly. Such design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,169 (Hardin et al.) comprising a divot repair tool and a housing with a slot and transverse slots at the ends of the larger slot. The mechanisms for extending and retracting the tool are used in conjunction with the transverse slots whereby a locking mechanism is biased to enter the slot to lock the tool in place. However, the user must push in a button and manually move the tool from the retracted to the extended position or vice versa.
Other devices use a slidable divot tool in conjunction with other tools. U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,553 (Digerness et al.) discloses a slidable divot tool in conjunction with a pencil sharpener. U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,824 (Reimers) discloses a retractable divot tool in conjunction with a plurality of other devices, such as a ball marker, iron groove brush and a picking tool. Such tools provide a compact divot tool device. However, such tools also require a manual sliding of the divot tool to the extended position.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a retractable divot tool having a spring assisted tool extension. It is another object of the invention to provide a divot tool capable of retracting into a housing to prevent the user""s pockets from accumulating dirt and mud during a round of golf It is a further object of the invention to provide a retractable divot tool to prevent the user from being poked by the tool when the tool is not in use.
These and other objects are achieved with the use of the claimed invention. The invention comprises a housing, a retractable divot tool retractable into an out of the housing, a spring mechanism for assisting the extension of the tool from the housing and a button member for unlocking the tool when the tool is in its extended and retracted position. Upon manipulation of the button member, the divot tool via the spring mechanism is biased towards the extended position and is locked again when the tool is fully extended. Again upon manipulation of the button member and the manipulation of a lever member connected to the tool, the tool may be retracted back into the housing.